The Housewife’s Counterstrike Chapter 04
The following evening, the shipping consortium held a homecoming banquet for Herman at a hotel by the port.
First thing in the morning, Maria was on the phone.
“You have to be there tonight!”
“If you don’t come, everyone will say the Donna of the Vance family can’t hold her ground. That damages Herman’s reputation in the family!”
I asked calmly, “Clara will be there too, won’t she?”
Maria was already impatient. “Clara grew up on the sea. Herman is about to secure the biggest North American shipping line. He needs a go-between to talk with the man who runs the Voyager line, and Clara is the perfect choice! Stop being jealous!”
“Fine. I’ll go.”
At seven that evening, I arrived at the banquet hall in a long black dress cut deep in the V.
I wore no jewelry. I had even removed my wedding ring.
Herman sat at the head of the table. Clara sat to his left.
She wore a pure white evening gown, the ocean of blue diamonds around her throat, the bracelet on one wrist, the earrings glinting from her lobes—the entire set.
She looked like a haughty queen, accepting the flattery of everyone around her with a smile.
Maria saw me come in and frowned faintly before waving me off with a perfunctory hand.
“Selena, just sit by the door. You can’t help with business anyway.”
The seat by the door was where they seated menial hangers-on.
Herman did not intervene.
To him, this cold-shouldering was a lesson meant to teach me obedience.
Clara took a sip of red wine and looked down at me from her place at the table.
“Donna, please don’t misunderstand. This set is only for photographs. Herman just asked me to hold on to it for a while.”
Several capos joined in the game at once.
“The Don’s taste is impeccable! That set was made for Clara!”
“A man doing big business needs a woman like Clara at his back, someone who understands the trade!”
“Donna, don’t take it too much to heart. It’s all for family business!”
Herman lifted his wineglass, the corner of his mouth curving up, and offered a hollow protest.
“Don’t tease her.”
I sat quietly by the door. A waiter set a plate of raw oysters in front of me.
I have a serious stomach condition, and I’m allergic to raw seafood.
The old Herman would never have allowed such a dish anywhere near me.
Now he was carefully slicing a warm cut of beef and placing it on Clara’s plate.
Clara rose with her glass and came over to me.
“Herman used to talk about you often. He said it must have been so hard on you, running that house alone. I really admire everything you’ve given up. Let me drink to you.”
I stared coldly at the blue diamonds at her throat.
“Besides saying I’ve had it hard, what else did he say?”
Clara’s lips curled. Her voice was mocking.
“He said… you’re the perfect housewife. But you’d never understand the vast ocean inside him.”
The room fell silent in an instant.
A few capos tried to smooth things over. “Ha ha! Living life on a knife’s edge, so much time apart—of course you both have to be understanding!”
Maria shot me a vicious glare and hissed, “Drink it! Don’t embarrass the Vance family here!”
Herman turned his head, his voice heavy with authority.
“Selena, whatever this is, we’ll discuss it privately. Don’t make a scene in front of everyone.”
Slowly, I picked up the wineglass in front of me.
I did not drink.
Instead, I tipped every last drop of red wine into the flowerpot beside me.
Clara’s face went ashen.
Maria shot to her feet. “Selena! How dare you!”
Herman came striding toward me, his hand already reaching for my shoulder.
At that exact moment, the door of the banquet room burst open.
Alice rushed in, her face flushed scarlet, clutching a red-stamped document in a white-knuckled grip.
“Selena! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
Alice’s voice was loud, tinged with real fear. “Something is very wrong with the smuggling manifests from Marseille! The authorization signature at the bottom—it’s got your name on it!”
Herman went white as chalk.
He lunged forward to snatch the document out of Alice’s hands.
I sidestepped and grabbed it first.
At the bottom of the page, in the signature box, was one word—*Selena.*